Kalikasan Slams Aquino for Ill Prepared Efforts

A lack of preparedness, leadership and proactive solutions over the past three years was seen persisting in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) despite early announcements and pronouncements of anticipatory mobilization of the government’s disaster risk reduction and management councils.

This was the disappointment expressed by the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) as ‘Yolanda’ brought maximum sustained winds of 315 kph, the strongest recorded in world history, which scientists expected to cause massive landslides, flash floods and storm surges. Local officials in Leyte have said that 10,000 people are feared dead in their province alone, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said over four (4) million individuals from over 900,000 families were affected.

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Kalikasan PNE referred to P-Noy’s citing of the P1 billion calamity and contingency fund, the P6 billion presidential social fund and about P16 billion in government savings as sources for relief efforts, which the group said was a “reactive, myopic and corruption-prone solution to the growing strength and frequency of typhoon disasters and other climate change impacts.”

“Lessons from typhoons Ondoy, Pedring, Sendong, Pablo and the successive monsoon disasters should have taught P-Noy that emphasis on community-based climate adaptation initiatives are needed in highly hazardous areas way before hazards are expected, such as mangrove reforestation in coastal areas, locally appropriate early warning systems and participatory capacity building of local disaster councils and communities,” said Leon Dulce.

“We deserve a far better leadership from the national government than what P-Noy and his lackeys have demonstrated in ‘Yolanda’ and even way back to the bungled disaster response efforts to Typhoon Pedring in 2010. P-Noy clearly cannot be trusted to lead our nation through future extreme weather events, unless we are contented with having thousands dead, millions affected and billions of pesos worth of destroyed properties every time a typhoon hits,” Dulce asserted.